


four left feet

by lilacloveletters



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Trans Zuko (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, tags will be added as the story goes, they're both so stupid god bless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:13:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25037551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacloveletters/pseuds/lilacloveletters
Summary: Evenings in the shop are always slow. Most people are out doing other things, enjoying the last few weeks of summer. Zuko can’t say he blames them; if he had anywhere to go, he’d certainly rather be there than here.Zuko is startled out of his musings by the jingling of bells at the door. He lifts his head from where it rests on the counter to see a boy huffing and puffing, bent over with his hands on his knees.“Can I… help you?”The boy looks up, and Zuko feels like he’s just been punched in the stomach.A.K.A. Yet another high school AU. (Title from Four Left Feet by The Ditty Bops!)[ON HIATUS AS OF 9/02 BECAUSE OF SCHOOL]
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 184





	1. in which there is a new beginning, whether zuko likes it or not

**Author's Note:**

> exactly what it says on the tin. yet another high school au with tropes, fluff, and lgbtq+ characters galore. i don't have a plot planned out so this should be fun, i'll try to update regularly but no promises

Zuko is 13 years old when he tells his father that he doesn’t think he’s a girl.

Zuko is 13 years old when he is told that he is _a disgrace to the family_ and _don’t you ever come back to this house._

Zuko is 13 years old when his face is permanently disfigured and his world dissolves into a haze of fire and pain.

After he is finally, _finally_ discharged from the burn ward, his uncle spirits him away to a quiet town in the middle of nowhere where he can take care of Zuko as he recovers. There are no apartments in town, but they manage to find a house on Airbnb that says the owners aren’t planning to be back for a good while. The house is small but affordable, and as his uncle says, _Beggars can’t be choosers._

Zuko has never hated that phrase more.

Healing is… painful, in more ways than one. Getting used to only being able to use one eye while he has the bandage on is bad enough, but worse than that is the constant discomfort and pain. Worst of all are the looks he gets from everyone around him. Zuko is sick of the empty condolences and looks full of pity thrown his way without a second thought. He hates that he knows it will get worse after the bandages come off to reveal an undoubtedly horrifying scar.

“It will get better,” he tells him. Zuko is not so inclined to believe him.

Time passes. The bandage comes off, and Zuko is surprised to find that he can see through his scarred eye. It’s not like what it used to be, not even close, but the fact that he can see through it at all--well. It’s something, at least.

Now that Zuko doesn’t need constant supervision for his wound, Uncle Iroh starts working at a tea shop. Zuko insists that he goes too; the pointed stares at his scar are painful, but they’re infinitely preferable over the hours of unbearable silence when he stays at the house. Luckily the owner doesn’t ask questions about his age, so he’s able to get the job, and he manages to convince his uncle that he’s doing it so they’ll be able to pay rent more easily. He isn’t sure that Uncle Iroh entirely believes him, but at least he doesn’t press the issue anymore.

In the burn ward they had had to shave his head because the hair kept getting stuck in the bandage; now it’s growing back, and by the time he starts working in the tea shop, it’s grown out enough that it just looks like he has a short haircut. With his hair this short, it’s impossible to hide his newly-healed scar, and not a day goes by without him being all too aware of stares his way. The first few times he confronts them, but it happens so often that it quickly becomes apparent that it’s not worth the argument and the lost customer. Soon he’s so desensitized to it that it almost doesn’t bother him.

Almost.

More time passes. They leave the Airbnb house and move to another, equally tiny town where his uncle found a building offer that lets him open his own tea shop, the _Jasmine Dragon_ . They move into the area above the shop; it’s smaller than the house had been, but it’s _theirs_ , and Zuko finds that he’s able to relax much easier there. He works as a server there, and although he had never expected his life would end up like this, it’s… good.

Until one day, Iroh tells him that he wants Zuko to go to school in the fall.

“You want me to do _what?”_

“You need to be around other kids your age,” he says serenely. “It’ll be good for you.”

“But-- I don’t want--”

“Did you think you were going to stay here forever? Working in a tea shop, being homeschooled?”

Zuko scowls and folds his arms across his chest. “The teachers at school would be even worse than you are.” Of course, his uncle isn’t a bad teacher, but Zuko is loath to admit that he actually enjoys some of the lessons. “Not to mention the other students,” he adds.

Iroh sighs. “Not everyone is your enemy, Zuko.”

“Are you kidding?” he shouts, his arms dropping to his sides, fists clenched. “Have you seen the way people look at me?” He points to his face. “At _this?”_

His uncle is quiet for a moment, one hand coming up to absently stroke his beard as he thinks. “I will make us some tea. I can see that this will require a longer conversation.”

“We own a tea shop,” Zuko mutters, hanging up his work apron. “I don’t think we need any more tea.”

His uncle ignores him as he bustles around the kitchen, retrieving the ingredients for his jasmine tea. Zuko sits down at the table to wait, and as he listens to the familiar clattering and humming from the kitchen, the tension slowly unwinds from his shoulders, his scowl shifting into a quiet frown. When his uncle returns with two cups of tea, his anger has almost entirely melted away.

“Here is your tea,” Iroh says as he places the cup in front of Zuko, who picks it up with a murmured thanks. There is a brief moment of silence that is only broken by the occasional sipping of tea. Zuko realizes that his uncle is waiting for him to speak first, and to his surprise he finds that instead of irritating him further, the sentiment drains the last of his anger.

“They’ll hate me,” Zuko mumbles into his tea.

His uncle shakes his head. “No, they will not hate you. There are always going to be people who make their judgements based on appearances, but there are also people who will look past that and see you for who you truly are.”

“What if they don’t like that, either?”

“You are a good young man, Zuko,” he says firmly. “I know you may not believe it--” Zuko scoffs at this, and Iroh continues over him-- “but I know it to be true. Others will see that, too. Trust me, finding friends will not be as difficult as you think.”

Tea forgotten, Zuko drops his head into his hands. “I-- I don’t want _friends_.”

Iroh looks at him, his eyes unreadable. “Often, the best friendships are the ones that happen entirely by accident.”

Zuko doesn’t reply.

“I will not force you to do anything you don’t want to,” his uncle says as he stands and picks up his empty cup. “Think on it and tell me what you decide.”

He leaves Zuko sitting at the table to think it over. By the time he gets up, what remains of his tea has long since gone cold.

Evenings in the shop are always slow. Most people are out doing other things, enjoying the last few weeks of summer. Zuko can’t say he blames them; if he had anywhere to go, he’d certainly rather be there than here.

Zuko is startled out of his musings by the jingling of bells at the door. He lifts his head from where it rests on the counter to see a boy huffing and puffing, bent over with his hands on his knees.

“Can I… help you?”

The boy looks up, and Zuko feels like he’s just been punched in the stomach. He’s _gorgeous_ , even out of breath from running. His eyes are startlingly blue against his brown skin, and a few strands of dark hair have escaped from his ponytail to frame his face. He brushes them back out of his hair as he speaks--

\-- _wait._ He’s talking, Zuko needs to pay attention--

“--are you guys closed yet?”

“Uh. No, we’re still open,” Zuko says, mentally cursing his awkwardness.

“Oh, thank the spirits. My sister would have _killed_ me if I forgot to get her bubble tea.”

“What can I get you?”

“Right. Uh…” The boy walks up to the counter and squints at a piece of paper in his hand. “This might be a bit long.” He rattles off a complicated order that usually would annoy Zuko to no end, but for once he’s grateful to have something that takes his mind off of how unfairly attractive the boy is. 

When Zuko has it all down, he looks up again. “Will that be all for you?”

“Yeah-- wait.” He squints at the menu. “Does that say _cactus bubble tea?_ ”

“It’s a new flavor,” Zuko offers.

“I’ll have one of those,” he says, and Zuko nods before taking the orders to his uncle in the back of the shop. If he notices how flustered Zuko is, he doesn’t say anything, a small miracle that Zuko is grateful for.

When he comes back out to the front, he’s startled to find that the boy is still standing at the counter.

“Do you need anything else?”

“Nah,” the boy says. “I was just wondering--are you new? You look like you’re my age, but I’ve never seen you around before. And this is a small town.”

Zuko blinks. “Oh. Uh, yeah. I moved here a few months ago.”

The boy leans on the counter with a casual grace that makes Zuko temporarily lose all the air in his lungs. “That’s cool! Are you going to school in the fall?”

Zuko winces slightly. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“You should,” he says brightly. “There are some pretty cool people there, myself included.” Zuko cracks a tiny smile at that, and the boy’s grin widens in response.

His uncle calls the order from the back of the shop. Zuko hurries to retrieve it, ignoring the way his heart is hammering in his chest. This time, his uncle gives him an odd look as he hands Zuko the drinks. He chooses to ignore it, hoping that he won’t be asked about it later.

“That’ll be $6.55,” he says as he sets them on the counter, thanking the spirits that his voice doesn’t crack. The boy digs around in his wallet and hands him a crumpled ten, which he exchanges for the proper amount of change.

“My name is Sokka, by the way,” he says with a smile. “Hey, if you decide to come to school, you should find me! We can hang out sometime.”

Before Zuko can reply, he’s already tucking the drinks under his arm walking out the door with a cheery wave. Zuko watches him go through the glass doors of the shop until he can’t see him anymore.

_Sokka._

Zuko pretends he doesn’t notice how the name makes something warm glow in his chest.


	2. in which sokka comes back (and then comes back again)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> zuko makes a friend, an enemy, and some impulsive decisions. will he ever get over this awkwardness around sokka?
> 
> (no, dear reader, he will not.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT LAST CHAPTER: i was talking to a beta reader about my plans for this fic and it was brought to my attention that the type of burn i imagine zuko to have would not actually cause hearing loss. i hate retconning but i felt it was necessary to edit the mentions of hearing loss out of the first chapter because i will not be mentioning it in the future. i apologize for the inconvenience and the lack of research on my part. thank you for your patience
> 
> now that that's out of the way, i hope you enjoy this chapter!

Zuko expected that would be the only time he’d see Sokka. He was wrong. Sokka comes back the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, too. Each time he comes back, he orders the weirdest thing he can find on the menu and gives Zuko a full review.

“Looks like we might need to start coming up with new flavors,” Iroh says with a chuckle as he starts making Sokka’s latest order. “I’m not sure we have anything much weirder than cheese cream gyokuro.”

Zuko shakes his head as he returns to the counter. Sokka has taken to sitting at the table closest to the counter so he can talk to Zuko without keeping him from his work, a gesture that surprised Zuko with its thoughtfulness.

“I don’t know if you’re going to like this one, Sokka,” Zuko says, resting his elbows on the counter. “It’s… pretty weird.”

“So was everything else I’ve tried so far,” he says with a shrug. “I’ll get through it.”

Zuko snorts. “Why do you keep ordering weird things, anyway?”

“Why not?” Sokka counters with a grin.

“Fair enough. Don’t blame me when you get sick later.”

A group of people come in and Zuko is forced to pull his attention away from Sokka to take their orders. There are five of them, and they all have specific add-ons to their order. He runs their order by the girls after he writes it all down to make sure he got them all right, which earns him an eye roll from one of the girls in the group. He ignores it, knowing from experience that it’s better to make sure than to get the order wrong.

Zuko takes the order to his uncle before going back to the counter. He rests his elbows on the cool wood, absently running a hand through his shaggy hair before looking over at Sokka, who is bent over a notepad, scribbling wildly with a violently blue mechanical pencil.

“What are you working on?” Zuko ventures, leaning over the counter to see better.

“A glider!” Sokka replies with a maniacal grin. He picks up the notepad and holds it out for Zuko to see. “I’m working on it with my friend Teo. We’re going to test it out on the last day of summer.”

“Is that safe?” Zuko frowns at the notepad. It looks well thought out, at least to his untrained eyes. The majority of the page is taken up by sketches of the glider, the spaces in between filled with scribbled calculations and notes in nearly illegible handwriting.

“If it works, it will be,” he says with a shrug. “Besides, even if it crashes, Aang will probably be fine. That kid has a weird knack for getting out of bad situations without a scratch.”

“You’re not testing it yourself?”

“Oh, no, I’m just the plans guy. Besides, Aang is the lightest of all of us, which makes designing the glider a lot easier.”

Zuko nods and starts to look more closely at some of the notes, but he is interrupted by Sokka’s order being called. He gives Sokka a quick apology and hurries to the back to pick it up, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he returns.

“Here it is,” Zuko says, sliding it across the counter. “$3.00.”

Sokka pulls out his wallet and slaps three crumpled dollar bills on the counter as he reaches for the drink. He puts in the straw and takes a single, cautious sip.

“Bleugh!” He grimaces. “That tastes like--”

“--Green tea topped with cheese?” Zuko supplies. “That’s… basically what it is.”

“I can’t believe you’re making me drink this,” Sokka groans.

“No one is  _ making _ you do anything. Feel free to throw it out.”

Sokka sends him a wounded look, but before he can say anything else, a girl walks up to the counter and slams her hand down on it. Zuko flinches backwards but quickly recovers and gives her a fake customer-service smile, recognizing her as the girl who rolled her eyes when he asked her to repeat her order.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes,” she snaps, her bright red acrylics tapping against the wood as though to punctuate her words. “It’s been  _ ages _ since my friends and I ordered, and we’re still waiting!”

“I’m sorry for the wait, but we only have one person in the back making the tea,” he explains. “Since your group put in several orders at once and they all have add-ons, it’s bound to take a bit longer.”  _ It’s only been what, five minutes? Ten?  _ He bites down on the words before they can slip out of his mouth, knowing they’ll only make matters worse.

She scowls, clenching her hand into a fist. “I can’t believe this! This is ridiculous. See if we ever come back here again!”

_ Good riddance,  _ he thinks, but says nothing.

“Hey, are you even listening to me? I’m talking to you, scarface!”

Zuko almost rolls his eyes at that--he’s heard more creative insults from middle schoolers--but it’s enough to make Sokka stand up and walk towards her.

“Sokka,” Zuko starts. “You don’t need to--”

Sokka ignores him, taking another step towards the girl. “You’re way out of line, lady. I don’t know what the hell your problem is, but you shouldn’t be taking it out on my friend here.”

She scoffs. “Are you kidding me right now? He’s making us wait for our drinks!”

“No one is  _ making _ you do anything.” Sokka crosses his arms, placing himself firmly between her and Zuko. “If you’re so inconvenienced by the wait, then why don’t you just leave?”

The girl fumes silently for a moment before snapping, “You know what? I think I will. The tea was probably shitty anyway.” She turns on her heel and stalks back to her friends, who follow her out with quick, curious glances back at Sokka and Zuko.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Zuko says as Sokka sits back down.

“It’s no big deal. I wanted to.” Sokka frowns. “Do customers usually treat you like that?”

Zuko shrugs awkwardly. “Customer service. It happens.”

His frown darkens, and he opens his mouth to say something, but he’s interrupted by Iroh calling the orders of the girl and her friends.

Zuko glances at the clock and smiles, a faint quirk of his lips. “It’s almost time to close. Want to hang around after and try what they ordered?”

“It’d be a shame to waste good tea,” Sokka says, pretending to mull it over. “And whatever they got has to be better than  _ that _ \--” he points at his abandoned drink-- “so I’m in!”

Later, they sit on the wooden floor in the back of the  _ Jasmine Dragon _ , the drinks sitting between them.

“Which one do you want to try first?” Zuko asks. “Your pick.”

“Hmm.” Sokka looks down at the cups for a moment before reaching for a pale green drink. He brings the straw to his lips, takes a drink, and immediately winces. “Ugh. It’s really sweet.”

“Here, give it to me.”

“Gladly.” He passes off the tea to Zuko, who takes a sip and tries not to think about the fact that Sokka’s lips had been on the same straw a moment before. It’s almost like-- _ no, Zuko, do  _ not  _ think about kissing Sokka. Do. Not. _

“Honeydew milk tea,” Zuko says to distract himself. “It’s sweet but also refreshing.”

“I don’t know how you can drink that,” Sokka grumbles, picking up a plain black milk tea. “Stuff that sweet gives me a stomachache.”

Zuko shrugs. “More for me.”

Sokka shakes his head and drinks some of his tea. “Now this is good tea. Want to know how I can tell?”

“How?”

“Because it makes me all bubbly inside,” he says, already laughing at his own joke.

Zuko groans. “Sokka, that was  _ terrible, _ ” he says, which only makes Sokka laugh harder.

They fall into a companionable silence, broken only by the occasional sipping of a drink. Zuko clutches his cup and lets the chill seep into his palms distract him from just how close Sokka is to him.

“Hey, Zuko.”

“Yeah?”

Sokka turns to face him, setting his drink down next to him. “When I was talking to you earlier about the glider, I wanted to tell you that we’re going to have… a party, kind of? Both to test the glider and to all hang out one more time before summer ends. And I was wondering if maybe you would want to come?”

He does. So much. But-- “I don’t know, Sokka,” he says quietly. “I’m not really… good with people.”

“It won’t be a lot of people,” he says quickly. “Just a few friends, I promise. They’re nice, trust me. Er--except for Toph. She’s… uh, let’s just say she has a very blunt personality. But anyway, I’d really like it if you came. I mean, no pressure or anything, you don’t  _ have  _ to, but--” Sokka takes a deep breath and collects himself. “It would be… nice.”

Zuko takes a long sip of his tea as he thinks over his options. He knows his uncle would want him to go; he’d say it would be a great opportunity to get to know people before school starts.  _ If he’s even going to school. _ Zuko ignores that for now and digs deeper.  _ What do  _ I  _ want to do? _

If he wanted to spend more time with Sokka, meeting his friends was always going to be a part of that, he reasons. What better opportunity will there be than this? Besides, if he makes a fool out of himself he can just not go to school.

Sokka misinterprets his silence and stands. “I--uh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked--”

“Wait,” Zuko says, standing to meet him. “I’ll go.”

“Really? You’re not just saying that because you feel bad?”

“Of course not.” Zuko smiles faintly. “I have to see if your glider works, don’t I?”

Sokka grins back. “Great! Here, let me--” He takes his notepad and pencil out of his pocket, then scribbles on it for a moment before tearing off the page. “This is my address--we’re doing it at my house because Gran-Gran’s not gonna be home--and my phone number,” he explains, handing it to Zuko.

Zuko folds it up and puts it in his pocket. “Thanks. Do you want to take the rest of the drinks? I can get you a carry out cupholder.”

“That would be great! I’m sure Katara will want some.”

Sokka waits as Zuko gets the cupholder from a cabinet and carefully puts the remaining three drinks in before handing it to him.

“Thanks again,” Sokka says. “For the drinks and for agreeing to come to the party.”

“No problem.”

They stand there for a moment in silence.  _ Say something, you idiot!  _ Zuko berates himself internally, but he’s distracted as Sokka tucks a strand of hair back into his ponytail.

“Well, I should go,” Sokka says at last.

“Oh! Yeah. Um. See you later?” Zuko takes a sip of his nearly-empty tea to cover his embarrassment, feeling his cheeks flush. 

“You know it,” Sokka says with a wink as he carries the drinks out of the shop. Zuko almost chokes on boba, but is able to recover in time to wave goodbye.

When he’s out of sight, Zuko puts down his tea and covers his burning face with his hands.

_ I am so fucked. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! i'm planning on updating roughly every week or so depending on what life throws at me, so keep an eye out for the next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT 7/10/20:  
> i was talking to a beta reader about my plans for this fic and it was brought to my attention that the type of burn i imagine zuko to have would not actually cause hearing loss. i hate retconning but i felt it was necessary to edit the mentions of hearing loss out of this chapter because i will not be mentioning it in the future. i apologize for the inconvenience and the lack of research on my part. thank you for your patience


End file.
